Dawnmare: The Prank (one-shot)
by P. Skarlor
Summary: When Gumball has a horrific dream about kicking Darwin out of the house, Darwin comforts his brother. Many tears are shed.


**DISCLAIMERS:**

 **\- I DO NOT claim ownership of 'The Amazing World of Gumball'. I am using this intellectual property under 'Fair Use' as described in US code 17 section 107 (Copyright Act of 1976). I only claim ownership of the plot line.**

 **\- My work contains some mature language (I.E. swearing/cursing). If the occasional 'F' bomb really bothers you, then you might not want to read my writing.**

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 **Hello everyone! So... this is my second story, and first "one-shot". The general idea of this story is a bit... weird TBH. I really hope the plot doesn't come across as too contrived, (although technically all fiction is** **contrived). I'd really appreciate any feedback you might have.**

 **Fair warning: this story is a bit of a sappy, mushy sob story.**

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Prologue, author's perspective: Everyone has nightmares. There's no exception to this. Hell, last night I had a nightmare where my mother died in a plane crash, and this morning I needed a hug from her. I, a fully grown 21-year-old bearded man, needed a hug from his mom due to a nightmare (actually true story that actually happened this morning. I was really shook up by it).

Something else that people have, only less often, is something I like to call a "daymare". Like a nightmare, only it happens while you're daydreaming, deep in thought. It's when your mind wanders to dark, creepy places while fully under the control of your waking consciousness.

A third 'mare' that I'm not entirely sure many people experience is something I call a "dawnmare". It happens when you're halfway between still asleep and waking up. Normally, I like to get out of bed by 8:00am or 8:30am, but today I slept in 'till 9:15ish. During those 45-75 minutes, my waking consciousness was only kinda sorta in control. I guess it had the ability to dictate what the dawnmare's topic was, but not its events.

This morning, my man-child brain decided it would think about The Amazing World of Gumball, specifically what would happen if it were March 31st, and Gumball was trying to think of April fool's day pranks to pull on Darwin. Oddly enough, in my dawnmare Gumball was also having his own dawnmare (inception! OOOH!) So, without further delay, here's what my subconscious and conscious minds created together: (warning: it's kinda sad, but it has a happy ending)

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It was morning time over the little town of Elmore. Birds were chirping in the cool, March air. The sun was shining all over the earth with a massive, warm grin. The sun's rays pierced through the open window of a certain bedroom, where a certain pair of brothers was relaxing on a Sunday morning.

There sat an old, beige computer straight out of the 90's or early 2000's on a wooden desk. Its small little cooling fan was whirring away, carrying the heat out from inside the tan box of technology. In front of the computer sat a little orange legged fish.

Darwin was sitting at the computer, a smile on his face as he browsed dank memes on Shreddit. He was struggling slightly to keep his laughter down as his eyes panned over pictures and gifs of people sprinting into lamp posts and cats doing all sorts of ridiculous things. He wanted to remain quiet as his older brother was still asleep.

Gumball lay in his warm comfortable bed, listening to his little brother giggle softly at the best the internet has to offer. He was caught in a state, somewhere between fully awake and fully asleep. His mind was playing out hypothetical events, kind of like personal TV in his mind. Gumball could control the subject of his mind's eye, but not the actions.

On this particular morning, he was contemplating April fools jokes he might pull on his brother. Traditional things popped into his mind. Things like water buckets over a doorway, putting salt in the sugar container and other such harmless pranks floated in and out of his young mind. Without warning or explanation, his sub-conscience decided to take a turn down a very dark and disturbing path in his mind. For some horrifying reason, he had the thought to kick his brother out of the house as a joke.

The warm, happy, content smile on young Gumball's face evaporated into a frown and a scrunched up brow. Without his permission, the situation his mind just conceived began playing out in a simulation.

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As the mental movie began, Gumball found himself alone in his room with Darwin. He walked up to his younger fish-brother and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Hey Darwin?" Gumball asked with a mischievous grin.

"Yeah?" replied the young fish innocently. He turned around to face his brother.

"Well… I've been doing some thinking recently... and I've decided that, for the sake of the family, you should leave," Gumball said with a straight face.

"Leave? What do you mean 'Leave'?" asked Darwin, a little perplexed.

"I mean like runaway. As in you no longer living here with us." Gumball replied flatly. _What?! I'd never say something like this! Darwin's far too sensitive for this! It'd break his little heart!_ thought Gumball.

Darwin's expression of innocence and curiosity quickly faded into a look of sheer terror. "W-wha..?" Darwin questioned softly, his lip quivering and his eyes tearing up.

"Yeah… it's for the best," Gumball said with a sigh and a bit of regret in his voice. Kind of like when a boss has to fire an employee. "Mom's been working her butt off to feed us, clothe us, put a roof over our heads… I think it'd be much less of a burden if she had one fewer mouth to feed."

"But…but… I," Darwin stammered, his mouth frantically searching for words but his mind just wasn't able to form them. A single tear ran down his check, the first of many.

"Tell you what… I'll help you pack up your things," Gumball said cheerily, completely ignoring his little brother's anguish. "Let's see… You've got your shoes… Well, those were technically mine originally so I'll take those back," said Gumball as he began rummaging through Darwin's drawers. "There's the fish bowl… but mom bought that with her own money, so we should probably keep that."

Gumball watched helplessly as his hands – controlled by his semi-dreaming sub-conscience – rifled through Darwin's belongings. _Hey! I gave those shoes to him! What the hell do you think you're doing?!_ Gumball's conscience shouted. His sub-conscience paid no mind.

Darwin was speechless. Never in his most horrific thoughts would he think that Gumball – his own best friend and older brother – would be ejecting him from the Watterson family. His mouth hung open as he watched motionless as Gumball slashed away at his heart with a machete of words. Seeing as this was all in Gumball's own mind, that feeling of heartbreak and torment shot straight into Gumball's own heart.

"Now that I think about it… as a former pet, you never really owned anything, did you?" Gumball said matter-of-factly. _Why am I even thinking like this?!_ Gumball thought to himself, as his own mental words slammed into his heart like artillery shells. His sub-conscience began dragging his brother out of their room, down the steps and out the front door.

Darwin looked back at Gumball, his eyes showing nothing but pure anguish. As this was Gumball's dawnmare, he could feel everything the dream-version of his brother felt in addition to his own feelings of harrowing guilt. The pure, unfiltered emotions of despair from two people consumed Gumball's heart and soul. He wanted nothing more than to end this torture, even preferring death at this point.

"Well… it's been nice knowing ya," Gumball said. _No… please god no! Anything but this!_ Gumball pleaded in his mind. All he could do now was watch and wait as his hand reached for the open door. With a swift, violent motion, the door slammed shut in his brother's face. _For the love of god… please, I beg of you! No more of this!_ Gumball's conscience begged.

Finally hearing his pleas, Gumball's sub-conscience relinquished control of the dawnmare to his conscience. Gumball now back in command of his mind, grabbed the door and practically ripped it off the hinges. Tears now flooding his vision, he looked desperately for that familiar orange shape. In the spot his beloved brother stood mere seconds ago, he found nothing. His eyes began frantically scanning the porch of the house, but there was no Darwin. He was gone.

Collapsing to his knees, Gumball's heart began overflowing with emotions far too intense for one person to bear. Curling up into the fetal position, he did the only thing he could do: cry.

Waves of guilt, betrayal, and heartache drenched his soul with pain as his eyes did their best to purge the sadness with their tears. He tried rocking himself slightly in a vain attempt to calm himself, but stopped after a few seconds. Strangely, he still felt himself moving rhythmically back and forth. He opened a wet, red, puffy eye and saw the house around him begin to shake. Its motions began to get larger and more violent. He heard a faint voice calling his name.

"Gumball?" said the voice. It was familiar, very familiar. "Gumball?" it repeated his name, this time a little louder, and with a noticeable shade of concern. He was about to put his finger on the voice's owner, when it shouted "GUMBALL!" It was Darwin's voice.

Finally snapping out of the limbo state of consciousness, Gumball opened an eye. Everything was blurry. He blinked to try and clear his vision, but it didn't help much. Opening both eyes now, he saw a big orange thing taking up most of his field of view. It was none other than his little brother.

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[Time jump back a few minutes]

Darwin was sitting at his computer, happily browsing memes. His shared bedroom was nearly silent apart from the birds outside and the noisy old computer fan. Drowning out the miscellaneous noises, Darwin was lazily focusing on the computer screen in front of him. A slight sniffle from the bed jerked him out of his memey trance. He glanced behind him to where he heard the sound coming from. He could see his brother, tears streaking down his face as he thrashed slightly in his sleep.

Darwin gingerly made his way over to his distressed brother. As he neared him, he could see the pillow beneath his head was sopping wet with tears. Gumball's face was rife with pain. Whatever he was dreaming about must've been mortifying. Hating to see his brother in such torment, Darwin placed a hand on Gumball's shoulder and began to gently shake him awake.

"Gumball?" He said gently, trying to wake his brother. No response. He shook a little more vigorously now, and repeated his name. "Gumball?" he said a little louder. Still nothing. Darwin was beginning to seriously worry about his brother. The sight of Gumball's tears made Darwin's eyes dampen. "GUMBALL!" he shouted. This time it worked. His tormented brother's red, puffy, teary eyes finally opened.

The pair sat there for a few seconds, tears filling their eyes and sharing look of pain on their faces. Gumball was the first to break the stillness. He lunged forward and grabbed his brother, hugging him as tightly as he could. More tears erupted from his eyes. He started wailing and choking on sobs.

His brother's sudden embrace startled Darwin slightly, but what shocked him more were the sounds of pained sadness coming from Gumball's throat. This was the hardest he could recall seeing his older brother cry. He had no clue what Gumball had just witnessed and felt, but based of the volume and pattern of his choked sobs, there was no doubt it was a scene of pure hell. Darwin returned his brother's embrace, doing his best to comfort him. He felt the rivers of tears flowing from his brother's face and onto his shoulder.

After a few minutes, Gumball finally began to calm down just enough to attempt speech. His voice was hoarse and dry, after crying so much. With his face buried in his younger brother's shoulder, his words just came out as muffled grunts. Realizing his brother was trying to say something, Darwin gently pushed himself out of the hug so the two could see each other face to face.

With his face now free, Gumball repeated what he had muffled into Darwin's shoulder. "I…I'm s-sorry…" was all Gumball managed to eke out over his choked cries.

"Sorry for what? What happened Gumball?" Darwin asked, a little confused.

"B-b-ad… d-d-dream" Gumball managed to say, tears still flowing like a firehose from his puffy eyes.

 _All this over a bad dream?_ Darwin thought to himself. For a split second, Darwin thought his brother was overreacting. He was 12 years old for crying out loud! Recalling the gut-wrenching sounds of his brother crying, he had a feeling it was something far worse than a simple bad dream.

"Wanna talk about it, buddy?" Darwin asked gingerly.

Gumball's eyes clamped shut at the thought of recalling what had just run through his mind. He whimpered slightly, and shook his head. He was terrified of what Darwin might think. _Will he hate me for even having the dream in the first place? Will he think I'm just a cry baby?_ He'd already hurt his brother enough, even if it was just imaginary. The idea of hurting him again was unbearable.

"C'mon Gumball, there's no way I'm letting you keep this bottled up inside you. Please, let me help you," said Darwin with a small but caring smile forming on his face. "You can tell me, buddy. I'm your brother."

Gumball knew his brother was right. The only way to get rid of this hellish pain was to let it out. With a deep, shaky sigh, he opened his eyes and looked back at Darwin and began to recount the disturbing events his mind just played out for him.

It took quite a while for Gumball to retell his vision. Through the relapses into hysterical sobbing and massive hugs his brother needed to give him, Gumball managed to tell it all in as much detail as his shredded soul would let him.

When he was finished, Gumball looked up at his brother, eyes fresh with new tears. Darwin's expression was one of dumbfounded shock. He needed a minute to process what he had just heard.

Gumball mistook Darwin's blank expression as a sign that his worst fear had come true. _He…he hates me. He think's I'd actually kick him out,_ Gumball thought to himself. He curled up in a ball and forced himself as far into the corner of the bed as he could. He contorted his body into as small and protective a shape as possible, preparing for Darwin's wrathful response. A response he felt he deserved fully. He sat there, shaking slightly out of fear, guilt, and self-hatred, waiting for his brother to say something.

Darwin just sat there, trying to process what his brother had just told him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Gumball huddled up in a ball, pressed into the corner. The sight of his brother shaking and shuddering, especially after what he'd just gone through, was really too much for the young fish to handle. His hands shot over to Gumball and grabbed him by the shoulders. With a firm tug, he pulled his brother upright and wrapped his arms around Gumball. He could still feel his brother's shaking, although it had gotten much less intense.

"Shhh…" Darwin whispered to his brother. "It's alright buddy. Everything's gonna be alright." He kept a firm grip on his terrified brother, not wanting to let go.

"B-but… but h-how can you n-not be mad?" whimpered Gumball, a little confused. "How c-can you not ha-hate me? I-I mean… part of me actually thought about doing that."

"Gumball, listen to me," said his brother firmly. "I've known you for eight years. Eight, long, wonderful years. In all that time, I've never known you to truly wish anything even remotely as bad as that upon anyone." He shifted his grip on his brother, making his embrace more secure. "Whatever that dream was, whatever caused you to have those thoughts, I _know_ it wasn't your fault, and I _know_ that wasn't the real you."

Gumball finally stopped shaking. He weakly put his arms around his brother, returning the embrace. Darwin's words delivered desperately needed healing to his heart.

"No matter what you say, no matter what you do, I will _always_ be your brother, and I will _never_ hate you," whispered Darwin.

Darwin's words of love were finally beating back Gumball's feelings of pain. He bolstered his grip around his little brother, matching the force of Darwin's embrace.

"Do…do you really m-mean it?" asked Gumball weakly, though deep down in his heart he knew fully well the answer was yes.

"Of course I do," his brother answered.

And with that, Darwin's love finally overcame his brother's despair. The last remnants of his soul-destroying feelings washed away with a few final tears. Not tears of sadness, rather tears of joy and relief.

"Thank you Darwin," Gumball whispered to his brother. "I'd be lost without you." A small smile formed on gumball's face.

"Same here, dude. Same here," replied Darwin. He glanced over at the clock on the bedside table. 10:53 AM. "Dude? You wanna get some breakfast?" asked Darwin, noticing his empty stomach. "It's almost eleven."

"Can… can we hug for just a few more minutes?" asked Gumball sheepishly.

Darwin flashed a big, warm grin. "Sure dude. Take as long as you need."

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 **so... there it is! I hope you liked it (or at least didn't hate it).**

 **Author's note (8/21/2017): Oh dang... I did NOT expect to see this much positive feedback from this story! I really appreciate your reviews, and I'm really glad I was able to make such a good addition to the world of tawog fanfiction! As corny as it sounds, this really does bring a genuine smile to my face :)**


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